As 2020 closes in, more details for Intel's 10th Generation Comet Lake-S Desktop CPU family have started leaking out. Well, the family was already leaked by us a while back but the new leaks come from various listings in 3DMark's database which has been spotted by Videocardz (via Tum_Apisak, _Rogame).

Starting off with the details, the three processors that have been spotted weren't included in the list which we posted back in November but these will also be a part of the 10th Generation CPU family. The newly spotted parts include the 6 core, Core i5-10600, Core i5-10400 & Core i5-10600T, and the 4 core, Core i3-10300. One of the key changes for the 10th Gen family would be support for multi-threading across all SKUs, unlike the 9th Gen parts which had multi-thread disabled on many mainstream and high-end SKUs. This change has been made due to rising competition from AMD's Ryzen desktop CPU family.

Following are some of the main platform features of the 10th Generation Comet Lake-S family:

Up To 10 processor cores for enhanced performance

Up To 30 PCH-H High-Speed I/O lanes for port flexibility

Up To 40 PCIe 3.0 Lanes (16 CPU, up to 24 PCH)

Media & Display features for premium 4K content support

Integrated + Discrete Intel Wireless-AC (Wi-Fi/BT CNVi) Support

Intel Wi-Fi 6 (Gig+) Support

Enhanced Core and memory overclock

Integrated USB 3.2 Gen 2x1 (10 Gb/s) support

Intel Rapid Storage Technology (Intel RST)

Programmable (Open FW SDK) Quad-Core Audio DSP

C10 & S0ix Support for Modern Standby

Intel Core i5-10600 & Core i5-10600T 65W/35W 10th Gen Desktop CPUs

In terms of specifications, Core i5-10600 is a 6 core and 12 thread processor, featuring a base clock of 3.3 GHz and a boost clock which is likely to be 4.5 GHz (single-core). This is a tad bit faster than Core i5-10500, which is also a 6 core and 12 thread chip, but has a base clock of 3.2 GHz and a boost clock of 4.3 GHz (single-core). Both chips are suggested to feature a 65W TDP with Core i5-10600K getting an unlocked design which is most likely to feature a TDP of 95W.

HKEPC even managed to get listings for the Core i5-10600T, which is also a 6 core and 12 thread SKU but should feature a much lower TDP of 35W. This chip would also come with lower clocks of 2.4 GHz base and 4.0 GHz boost. Compared to Core i5-9600T, the chip offers a 200 MHz overall increase to the base and 300 MHz increase to the boost clocks which is impressive for a T-series part.

The folks over at HKEPC also mention Core i5-10400 which is an entry-level 6 core and 12 thread 10th, Gen Desktop CPU. The chip is said to feature a base clock of 3.5 GHz and a boost frequency of 4.1 GHz. Again, this is a nice boost over the 2.90 GHz base and 4.1 GHz boost of previously released Core i5-9400, which had 6 cores and 6 threads with the same clock speeds.

Intel Core i3-10300 65W 4 Core and 8 Thread Desktop CPU

The other part is the Core i3-10300 which is a 4 core and 8 thread CPU with a base clock of 3.7 GHz and a boost clock of 4.2 GHz. Now compared to Core i3-9300, Core i3-10300 actually has the same base clock but a lower boost clock of -100 MHz. However, i3-10300 has four extra threads which Core i3-9300 doesn't and that might explain the 100 MHz lower frequency. It could also be possible that these are just engineering sample speeds and the actual clocks could end up being higher. This chip was spotted in the Alienware Aurora 11 Gaming desktop which shows that OEMs already have the chips in their hands.

Currently, the base configuration of the Aurora desktop from Alienware retails at $869.99 US and features Core i5-9400 and a GTX 1650 4 GB graphics card with 8 GB DDR4 memory and a 1 TB hard disk. It seems like Core i3-10300 configuration would retail for around $600-$700 US that makes it a nice option for those who are still after OEM built gaming PCs.

In addition to the CPU specific leaks, a listing of the Core i9-10900 was also spotted with 10 cores and 20 threads. This is still a very early engineering sample with base clocks of 2.50 GHz and the same boost frequency. The interesting thing about this leak isn't the chip itself but the board that it was tested on. The motherboard is the Z490-A PRO which is an upcoming Intel Z490 chipset based board. In another leak, Intel Core i5-10600 can be spotted running on an ASUS B460-Pro board too. The B460 chipset is also part of the 400-series family which is detailed below.

Z490 series motherboards from Gigabyte/AORUS were also listed very recently at EEC. There's also a single W480 motherboard which is part of the new workstation branded chipsets that Intel has in stock for 10th Gen workstation builders:

Intel 400-Series Platform and LGA 1200 Socket Support

It is now confirmed that Intel is indeed moving to a new socket with their 400-series boards that will be introduced next year too. While the LGA 1200 socket has the same dimensions as the LGA 1151 socket (37.5mm x 37.5mm), the socket keying has shifted to the left side and Comet Lake is no longer electrically or mechanically compatible with Coffee Lake motherboards. Some details of the new LGA 1200 package and socket for Comet Lake:

Comet Lake will transition to a higher pin-count package

Comet Lake LGA will not have backward compatibility with legacy platforms

No changes to ILM dimensions or thermal solution retention

Comet Lake LGA improves power delivery and support for future incremental I/O features

Pin 1 orientation remains the same, but socket keying has shifted left

Blueprints of the LGA 1200 socket (H5) have also been leaked by Momomo_Us, showing the design of the new socket itself and comparing it to the existing LGA 1151 socket (H4).

The pin and socket specific changes between the H5 LGA 1200 and the H4 LGA 1151 socket are detailed in the blueprints posted above. (Image Credits: Momomo_US)

The good thing is that your existing coolers would still be compatible with the LGA 1200 socket so that's one hardware change you shouldn't be worrying about. The Comet Lake-S family will retain support for DDR4-2666 memory UDIMM and support up to 32 GB capacity DIMMs per channel.

Intel plans to have several chipsets deployed in the 400-series family. There would obviously be Z490 which will target the 'K' unlocked SKUs I mentioned above, but aside from that we are looking at the W480 (Entry Workstation), Q470 (Corporate with Intel vPro), and H410 (Value) chipsets. These would target more corporate and entry tier users. Also interesting to note is that H410 is not pin-compatible with W480 and Q470 chipsets, which reveals a very cut down design for the entry-level chip.

Intel 400-Series Chipset Family:

Chipset Name

Intel Z490

Intel W480

Intel Q470

Intel H410

Total HSIO Lanes

46 Lanes (16 CPU + 30 PCH)

46 Lanes (16 CPU+ 30 PCH)

46 Lanes (16 CPU+ 30 PCH)

30 Lanes (16 CPU+ 14 PCH)

Total PCIe 3.0 Lanes (CPU + PCH)

Up To 40 (16 CPU +

Up To 40 (16 CPU +

Up To 40 (16 CPU +

22(16 CPU + 6 PCIe 2.0)

Chipset PCIe 3.0 Lanes

Up To 24

Up To 24

Up To 24

6 (PCIe 2.0 Only)

SATA 3.0 Ports

Up To 8

Up To 8

Up To 6

4

Maximum USB 3.2 Ports Gen 2 (10 Gb/s) / Gen 1 (5 Gb/s)

8/10

8/10

6/10

0/4

Tota USB Ports (Maximum USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gb/s))

14 (10)

14 (10)

14 (10)

10 (4)

Intel RST Technology For PCIe 3.0 storage ports

3 PCH

3 PCH

3 PCH

0

eSPI

2 Chip Select

2 Chip Select

2 Chip Select

1 Chip Select

Overclocking Support

Yes

N/A

N/A

N/A

Processor PCIe Express 3.0 Lanes Configuration

1x16 or 2x8 or 1x8 + 2x4

1x16 or 2x8 or 1x8 + 2x4

1x16 or 2x8 or 1x8 + 2x4

1x16

Display Support (Ports / Pipes)

3/3

3/3

3/3

3/2

DMI 3.0 Lanes

4

4

4

4 (DMI 2.0 Only)

System Memory Channels / DPC

2/2 (DDR4-2666)

2/2 (DDR4-2666)

2/2 (DDR4-2666)

2/1 (DDR4-2666)

In terms of chipset features, W480 would be the most feature-rich of the three chipsets that are mentioned here. Z490 would be the most appealing for the enthusiast and gaming audience, but let's take a look at the mainstream chipsets. The W480 chipset would offer a total of 46 high-speed IO lanes and a total of 40 PCIe Gen 3.0 lanes. The CPUs would retain 16 lanes with the chipset offering up to 24 PCIe 3.0 lanes.

There would be support for up to 8 SATA III ports, 8 USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports or 10 USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports, 14 USB 3.2 Gen ports, and Intel RST. Neither of the three chipsets would feature overclock support since that is restricted to the Z490 chipset but we will get more information on overclocking later on from Intel themselves. Expect more information on the Z490 motherboards and Comet Lake-S desktop CPU family at CES 2020 where we should get more details about Intel's next-gen desktop family roadmap. Our sources have pointed out a proper launch in February 2020.

Which 10th Gen Comet Lake desktop CPUs are you looking forward to the most?

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